Data from the General Statistics Office shows that Vietnam’s sex ratio at birth is currently 110 boys for every 100 girls, above the natural rate of 104-106.
The Ministry of Health is soliciting public opinion on a proposal to grant local authorities the discretion to support families with two daughters with tuition waivers, health insurance, and school milk programs.
Jackson viewed the initiative as a well-intentioned attempt to address the country’s widening gender gap, but emphasized that any lasting solution must target the roots of the issue.
A joint report by the UNFPA and General Statistics Office reveals a striking paradox: the sex ratio among the wealthiest 20% of households stands at 112.9 compared to 108.2 among the poorest.
An evaluation of the national strategy to control sex ratio imbalances between 2016 and 2025 also found that 54% of high-income individuals were familiar with fetal sex-selection methods, double the rate among lower-income groups.
Similarly, couples with college or university degrees were twice as likely to employ sex-selection techniques as those who had only completed primary school.
“Affluent families are choosing the sex of their children just as much as anyone else,” Jackson noted. “That proves money itself is not the core cause.”
While targeted financial assistance is necessary, Jackson warned that standalone subsidies rarely deliver sustainable cultural shifts.
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Matt Jackson, Country Representative for the United Nations Population Fund in Vietnam. Photo: Provided by subject |
The Risk of Flawed Messaging
Falling fertility rates are compounding the problem. As more couples opt for smaller families of just one or two children, the probability of naturally having a son diminishes, amplifying the pressure on parents. In this environment, long-term investments in girls can help alleviate family anxieties around childbirth, but they cannot substitute for solutions to address the causes of the sex ratio imbalance at birth.
The primary risk, Jackson cautioned, is not in the financial assistance itself, but in how the policy is framed.
Poorly crafted public messaging could lead citizens to view state aid as a form of “compensation” for having daughters, inadvertently reinforcing the harmful perception that girls are less valuable.
“If the policy is not designed with extreme care, we risk unintentionally reinforcing the very prejudices we are trying to erase.”
Rather than offering financial rewards to families for having daughters, he recommended investing directly in healthcare, education, and growth opportunities for girls.
This approach yields tangible benefits while sending a clear societal signal: daughters and sons carry equal worth.
Jackson pointed to international precedents, noting how countries successfully reversed their skewed gender ratios.
In 1994, South Korea had 115.4 boys born for every 100 girls despite a 1987 ban on prenatal sex determination. The ratio only normalized after 2005, following systemic reforms that expanded educational and employment avenues for women, overhauled inheritance laws, and abolished the male-headed family registry system.
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Students at Anh Sao Kindergarten in Yen So Ward, Hanoi, October 2025. Photo by Tung Dinh |
“Financial aid helps ease the burden of raising children. But to truly curb fetal sex selection, we must build an environment where girls are genuinely valued and allowed to develop as equals,” Jackson said.